Posts Tagged ‘Ercoupe’

Is it a high-wing Ercoupe? Is it a forerunner to the Cessna Skymaster?

The Anderson-Greenwood AG-14 is neither, but its history is a fascinating look back to the post-World War II boom in aviation that was widely predicted but never materialized. (The thought was that military pilots would come home and continue to fly, thus propelling the need for new airplane designs.)

A few characteristics of the AG-14:

90-hp Continental engine with a pusher prop

Four (yes, four) pedals to operate: two for the single rudder, one for the hydraulic brakes, and one (actually a foot button) used to engage the electric starter

Two seats plus a baggage compartment that could hold 250 pounds

There’s much more in the pilot report that Barry Schiff wrote for the November 2004 issue of AOPA Pilot,and I hope you’ll read it. The AG-14 he flew is one of only five built, and thought to be one of just two in existence.—Jill W. Tallman

Often imitated, never duplicated, the Ercoupe is one of the nation’s quirkiest and best-loved GA aircraft. A brief history: It was born in 1939 (its designer, Fred Weick, later worked on the Piper Cherokee line). Weick gave it tricycle landing gear and trailing-link main gear to help make challenging landings tamer, and he limited elevator up-travel to help reduce the potential for a stall. Oh, and he did away with rudder pedals, and interconnected the ailerons to the rudders–so you steer it like a car. You can fly it with the canopy open, and AOPA Pilot Editor at Large Tom Horne swears that you can stick your arm out the window and turn the airplane that way. He wrote about it in the March 2012 issue ( http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2012/march/f_ercoupe.html?WT.mc_id=&wtmcid;&WT.mc_sect=gan ).—Jill W. Tallman